Illinois Public Media's Bob McChesney interviewed the late Howard Zinn in October 2008. Howard Zinn was the author of A People's History of the United States, among many works. Zinn was an acclaimed historian and political scientist, and was active in Civil Rights and anti-war movements in the United States for many years.
One of the bloodiest race riots in the 20th Century took place in 1917 in East St. Louis, Illinois. Illinois Public Media's Celeste Quinn talks to Harper Barnes, editor and cultural critic for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, about how the riots sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Barnes is the author of "Never Been a Time: The 1917 Race Riot That Sparked the Civil Rights Movement.
Family reunification accounts for nearly two-thirds of lawful permanent migration to the United States: it's the largest avenue by which people receive admission to the country. Yet, family separation remains a part of daily living for countless immigrants. A legislative effort in Congress focuses on family unity as a key component of immigration policy. Illinois Public Radio's Sean Powers examines the issues facing lawmakers and families.
Al Letson, who is the host of NPR's State of the Re:Union, recently finished a documentary honoring the life of someone who he calls the most important civil rights figure with very little name recognition. Bayard Rustin was involved in the freedom rides...he served as the chief architect of the March on Washington...and toward the end of his life, became influential in the gay rights movement. Al Letson was in Champaign to talk about Rustin's legacy, and he spoke with Illinois Public Media's Sean Powers.
Gale Davis, 70, has lived in Urbana, Il. his whole life. He came out in 1969, and says of the same struggles facing the LGBT community back then are still relevant today. Davis spends a lot of his time reaching out to members of the LGBT community across the country. He says there needs to be more of an effort to share the gay experience to the rest of the country. Davis was interviewed by Illinois Public Media's Sean Powers.
The U.S. Senate is expected to consider ending the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which bans gays from openly serving in the armed services. But there's another issue that many gay rights supporters are pushing. Illinois Public Media's Sean Powers reports on the political deadlock over legislation to extend immigration rights to same-sex binational couples.
Bobby Seale co-founded the controversial Black Panther Party in 1966. The Panthers preached a doctrine of militant black empowerment to end to all forms of oppression against black people. The Black Panther Party was dismantled after 20 years, and Seale and others have taken on non-violent activism. Seale stopped in Champaign to talk to local teachers. He spoke to Illinois Public Media's Sean Powers about the Party's legacy and how changes in the world have shaped his activism.
Illinois Public Media's Steve Shoemaker talks with C.D. Wright, author of "One With Others", a novel about an explosive incident from the civil rights movement in Wright's native Arkansas.
Illinois Public Media's David Inge talks to Jerry Mitchell, award-winning investigative reporter with the The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. Mitchell's work has led to convictions related to murders during the Civil Rights era.
Illinois Public Media's David Inge talks to award winning journalist Charles E. Cobb, Jr, who served as a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi from 1962-1967. Cobb later went on to work for WHUR Radio, National Public Radio, and National Geographic. He is also the co-author, with civil rights organizer and educator Robert P. Moses, of "Radical Equations, Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project.
